Opinion

What the pope said on condoms

Shortly after the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI's book, "Light of the World," the media presented breaking news: "The pope allows the use of condoms." By now, Catholics and the public in general should know that this is not true.

In the book, German journalist Peter Seewald asks the pope two questions about Catholic Church policy in fighting HIV/AIDS, especially in some African countries. The Vatican policies on HIV/AIDS had become "the target of media criticism . . . it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms."

The starting point of the pope's response is the need to communicate the whole truth about the church's unparalleled mission in Africa, especially regarding the prevention and care of those with HIV/AIDS.

The pope focuses on the central issue: a need to properly fight the cheapening of sexuality. Pope Benedict refers to the ABC Theory (Abstinence-Be faithful-Condoms), "where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work."

The fixation on condom use is a "banalization of sexuality," which is "the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves."

"Banalization" means to strip something of its original value. To banalize or cheapen sexuality means to strip it of its God-given original value. The pope's response is an invitation to fight this cheapening of sexuality by living it and presenting it "as a positive value."

The pope finishes his answer by saying, "There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality."

Unfortunately, the media took this paragraph out of the context of the pope's reflection on the "banalization of sexuality."

Seewald then asks, "Are you saying . . . that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?"

The pope replies, "She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality."

The pontiff's central point is the need to live and understand sexuality in its full God-given meaning. Sexual activity outside of marriage is immoral. This certainly includes a male prostitute, whether he uses a condom or not. The point, however, is not condom use but how someone who lives a cheapened sexual lifestyle must begin the journey of moral development and integration of sexuality.

This "moralization of sexuality" requires our conscience be guided by truth. The church teaches that one's conscience could grow sightless as a result of habitual sin. The church also teaches that the process of forming our conscience is a gradual one.

A male prostitute who lives a trivialized sexual lifestyle and who also may infect with HIV another person could show, by using a condom, an incipient sign of "sight-recovery," a first step in the gradual movement toward a well-formed conscience.

That individual, even though he has committed a sin, also might be recovering a sense of moral responsibility by intentionally caring for the well-being of others. This, however, is neither "the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection," nor the end of the road for the individual who struggles in his or her battle against a banalized sexual lifestyle.

The contraceptive use of a condom empties sexuality of its meaning, the undivided communication of life and love. This is true for married or single people. The use of a condom in a homosexual act does not make it good.

However, in cases of immoral heterosexual or homosexual acts, the use of a condom to prevent HIV infection might be a first step for the moral well-being of the individual. The Holy Father proposes that to fight HIV infection, we need to fight the cheapening of sexuality by forming our conscience and moving toward a more integrated way of living sexuality.

The Rev. Javier Bustos is a priest in the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese, a professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart School of Theology and co-chair of the Archdiocesan Healthcare & Bioethics Committee.